Research & Commentary

In principle, both American voters and their elected officials want to support marriage and the family. One would expect, then, that our expenditure programs and tax code would reflect this desire. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Instead of a consistent policy, we have a crazy quilt...

A bipartisan consensus favors public policy initiatives to expand health insurance coverage. This paper summarizes new CPS data on health insurance coverage for the nonelderly and discusses the issues involved in subsidizing health insurance. We outline a tax credit option designed to diminish...

This paper presents alternative measures of actual and projected net benefits (benefits minus payroll taxes) from the Old and Survivors Insurance (OASI) component of Social Security, based on results from a microsimulation model. The simulations take into account marital histories, income, and...

[National Public Radio (NPR)]Urban Institute Senior Fellow and former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis, Len Burman, expounds upon the earned income tax credit (EITC) as he recounts his experiences with the confusing EITC while helping a single mother with her taxes....

Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle mentions two items that seem to be just below the radar screen of most of those following the tax cut debate: the adjustment of taxation of social security benefits and increases in child credits.

The Department of the Treasury recently released a distribution table, which shows how income tax liabilities would change under President Bush's tax plan. This release, a positive step, represents the Administration's acknowledgment that the distribution of tax burdens is important in assessing...

Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle explains why it makes sense to extend the charitable deduction to the time of filing a tax return, in much the same way as applies to deposits to individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and to certain pensions of self-employed persons (Keogh plans).

Recent large federal budget surpluses have spurred debate on how best to use the money. Some see surpluses as an opportunity to pay down the federal debt, to expand programs to meet such social needs as health care and education, or to secure the future of Social Security. Others propose...